How to block those unwanted and annoying spam emails

Jenna RoachMay 30, 202408.9K views

Getting bombarded with unsolicited emails in your inbox is annoying and a potential threat to your online safety, as scammers are always on the prowl for unsuspecting victims. However, there are plenty of things that you can put into place to thwart these pesky emails and keep them from flooding your inbox, and we’re going to show you how.

Tips and tricks to protect your inbox from spam and fraud

1. Email solutions that hide/change/delete your email address

Using email solutions that allow you to hide, change, or delete your email address can be a game-changer. It gives you the power to protect your privacy and reduce the risk of your email falling into the wrong hands. Plus, it’s also a handy way to avoid email overload and maintain a clutter-free inbox.

Hide email

To activate “Hide My Email” if you’re subscribed to iCloud+ on iPhone and Mac

If you are an iPhone or Mac user and you’re subscribed to iCloud+, Hide My Email is a feature you can use. This allows you to generate unique, random email addresses that are forwarded to your email account, so you don’t have to share your real email address when filling out forms, signing up for newsletters on the web, or sending emails.

Note: To use Hide My Email, you need to have an iCloud+ subscription and a device with iOS 15, iPadOS 15, or macOS Monterey or later.

How to activate “Hide My Email” if you’re subscribed to iCloud+ on iPhone

Open Settings on your iPhone and tap your name at the top
Tap iCloud
Scroll down and under iCloud + tap on Hide My Email
Tap + Create New Address. You will need to add a label, and if you’d like a Note
Then tap Next in the upper right-hand corner of the screen
Then tap Done

If you forget the Hide My Email that you’ve created on your iPhone, you can find it by going back to the Hide My Email section in iCloud+, and there you will see the ones you’ve created. Just tap the label you created, and it will show you the date you created it and allow you to copy the email address by holding down and pressing it, and then selecting copy.

How to activate “Hide My Email” if you’re subscribed to iCloud+ using Safari on Mac

Go to the apple icon in the upper left and tap it. Then click System Settings
Tap your name
Click iCloud
Scroll down, and under iCloud+, tap Hide My Email
Tap + plus sign. A pop-up window will appear where you will need to add a label and if you’d like a Note
Tap continue. Then click either Copy Address or Done

If you forget the Hide My Email that you’ve created on your Mac, you can find it by going back to the Hide My Email section in iCloud+, and there you will see the ones you’ve created. Just tap the label you created on the left side, and it will show you the date you created it and allow you to copy the email address by clicking on copy email.

Use an Alias email address to control and understand where spam is coming from

An alias email address is a different email address that you can use to send and receive messages without revealing your main email address. It’s like having a second name or a disguise for your online identity.

One of the benefits of using an alias email address is that you can control and understand where spam is coming from. For example, if you use an alias email address to sign up for a website or a service and then you start receiving spam messages to that alias, you can easily identify the source of the spam and block or delete the alias.

Free email providers

Some free email providers, like Yahoo, have different ways to allow you to create a temporary email address. Here are the steps for doing so on a computer using Yahoo.

How to create disposable email addresses with Yahoo on your computer

Log into your Yahoo account or create an account on your computer
Click the Settings icon in the upper right. Then scroll down and click More Settings
Then on the left, click Mailboxes
Under Temporary email addresses, click Add
You’ll be asked to type in a permanent nickname. Then click Next
You will get a prompt saying all of your temporary email addresses will start with [your permanent nickname]. Click Confirm
Add a keyword to your temporary address
Add a Display Name and a Description (both are optional)
Click Save

Note: you only get 3 free disposable email addresses with Yahoo’s basic account.

Sending an email with a Yahoo disposable email on your computer

Click Compose
Click the downward carrot icon next to your email address
Select the disposable email address you’d like to use

Private and secure email

If you’re looking to use private and secure email, our #1 pick will allow you to create and manage unlimited alias email addresses (you can even use a fake name).

My favorite alias email address hub to use is StartMail. StartMail is an excellent long-term solution, especially because you can remain private and secure and not have to worry about big tech companies scanning your emails to send you targeted ads. Some other StartMail’s best perks include:

StartMail email address
20 GB of email
Unlimited aliases
Access email on any device
Import your contacts easily
No ads, no tracking
Send encrypted emails to anyone

You can get an Exclusive deal for CyberGuy readers: 50% off: $29.98 for first year ($2.50 per month, billed annually). Includes a free 7-day trial.

MORE: CONTROL SPAM: HOW TO CREATE A QUICK ALIAS EMAIL ADDRESS

Create a throwaway email

Temp Mail
Automatically generates a temporary, anonymous, and free email address that self-destructs after several minutes
Guerrilla Mail
Creates a temporary disposable email and refreshes every 10 seconds for you to check the inbox
Burner Mail
It can be installed on both Google Chrome and Firefox. They generate a unique, anonymous email address for every service you sign up with. This makes it more difficult for companies to track your data.
10-minute Mail
As the name suggests, this website generates a throwaway email address that you can use for 10 minutes. Ideally, in that time frame, you can receive a validation email and activate an account without giving them access to your real information.

MORE: OUTSMART SPAMMERS TO FINALLY END UNSOLICITED EMAILS

2. Mark emails as Spam

Every email comes with a Spam or Junk option, allowing you to easily move an email message out of your inbox. The more you mark these emails as spam, the more your email system learns about this type of email and its sender so it can route future emails like this directly into your spam folder.

All you have to do is simply select the email you want to get rid of and look for an icon that says Spam or Junk in your email toolbar. The email will be automatically moved to a spam folder, where it will only live for a certain amount of time before being permanently deleted. Here’s how you can do it in Yahoo, Gmail, and Outlook.

How to mark an email as spam in Gmail

In your inbox, select the check box to the left of the email
At the top of your Gmail, click the ! icon in the octagon shape to report spam. It will then let you know that email has been marked as spam

How to mark an email as spam in Yahoo

In your inbox, select the check box to the left of the questionable email
On the toolbar above your emails, tap the Spam icon (shield with X in it). It will ask you to confirm it by clicking Report as Spam

How to mark an email as spam in Outlook

Select the questionable email
Click the Report icon on the toolbar at the top
Choose if you want to Report Junk or Report phishing

MORE: THE ‘UNSUBSCRIBE’ EMAIL SCAM IS TARGETING AMERICANS

3. Block certain senders

Just like you can block spam phone numbers, you can also block spam email senders. It’s a good way to make sure that you won’t have to worry about someone you don’t want sending you any messages in case they sneak into your inbox once. Here’s how to block senders in Gmail, Yahoo, and Outlook.

How to block senders in Gmail

Open the message of the email address you want to block
Click the 3 vertical dots in the top right corner
Select Block

How to block senders in Yahoo

Open the message of the email address you want to block
Click the 3 horizontal dots on your toolbar
Click Block senders

How to block senders in Outlook

Open the message of the email address you want to block
Click the 3 horizontal dots on your toolbar
Click Block

4. Invest in removal services

While creating throwaway, disposable, or alias email addresses is a great way to protect your online privacy, it is not enough to prevent your personal information from being scraped off of sites that scammers can add to their spam lists.

There are many data broker sites that collect and sell your data to third parties, and you may not even be aware of them. Many data broker sites are run by scammers, and it’s where they collect people’s personal information like email addresses, Social Security Numbers, and more. While no service promises to remove all your data from the internet, having a removal service is great if you want to constantly monitor and automate the process of removing your information from hundreds of sites continuously over a longer period of time.

A service like Incogni can help you remove all this personal information from the internet. It has a very clean interface and will scan 196 websites for your information and remove it and keep it removed.

Special for CyberGuy Readers (60% off): Incogni offers A 30-day money-back guarantee and then charges a special CyberGuy discount only through the links in this article of $5.99/month for one person (billed annually) or $13.19/month for your family (up to 4 people) on their annual plan and get a fully automated data removal service, including recurring removal from 175+ data brokers. I recommend the family plan because it works out to only $4.12 per person per month for year-round coverage. It’s an excellent service, and I highly recommend at least trying it out to see what it’s all about.

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MORE: BIG BUCKS COULD BE HIDING IN YOUR SPAM FOLDER

5. Unsubscribe from mailing lists

You can unsubscribe from the email lists that you once subscribed to if you’re getting too many emails from a legitimate website and no longer want to receive them. Many of these sites will make it hard for you to find the Unsubscribe option because they want to keep pushing their emails on you, so you’ll have to look carefully for it.

You should also unsubscribe from email lists that you never signed up for. This will help reduce spam and unwanted messages in your inbox.

The Unsubscribe button will typically be at the very bottom of the email message, and there will usually be a hyperlink that says something Unsubscribe or Manage subscriber options. Click that hyperlink, and it will take you to the company’s website, where you can unsubscribe from the mailing list there.

MORE: UNWANTED EMAILS FLOODING YOUR INBOX? HERE’S WHAT YOU CAN DO

Kurt’s key takeaways

The last thing any of us want is for our email inboxes to be overflowing with spam mail. None of us have the time in our day to go through all those messages and see which ones are important and which ones aren’t, so by using the techniques mentioned above, the dirty work can be done for you. Try them for yourself and see how they work.

What more could email providers be doing to protect you from spam? How frustrating is it to have to do all these steps to keep your data safe? Let us know by commenting below.

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